Considering Buying From eBay

Hi everyone,

I would like to know what is your opinion about buying Lenovo ThinkPad T400 from eBay.

Thanks in advance

~kirclerc

 

post links to the pages. we need more info.

 

I bought my x200 on eBay. Not only did I get a pretty good deal (Live cashback, free shipping, no tax), I got it in 4 days compared to direct orders from Lenovo which can vary between 2 weeks to 1 month.

Just make sure that the seller has a good reputation and fully read the auction details. if you're smart and patient, you can get away with some great deals.

 

be careful, alot of the the sellers who "mass sell" the thinkpads on ebay sell refurbished laptops from outlet or other sources as new. The problem is with Lenovo's system which alot of the times does not update the refurbishe -CTO models to correct -CTR designation. After that all the seller has to do is open the box, remove the new -CTR sticker that is usually pasted over the original -CTO one and sell the computer as new. The designation then switched by Lenovo to -CTR after a few months in the system, and the unsuspecting buyer usually does not notice anything. They also put some lame BS excuse that laptop had to be opened for RAM upgrades. I have seen this happen to an acquitance of mine couple of months ago. We did a little investigation and discovered this to be a common practice on ebay.

So be very careful about what you get. Buying from a regular non-mass selling person is alot safer.

 

how do we tell whether he is a mass seller or not?

 

Hi zenit,

Thanks for your advice.

Can you tell me what is meant by CTO, CTR, and BS?

~kirclerc

 

the seller can have multiple laptops up for sale, pics with multiple laptops, or he makes specifies in the auction that he has many. (some buy it now auctions show how many are available)

CTO = customized to order (was ordered on the site, and customized)

CTR = customized to refurbished? (doesnt make sense, but the point is that its refurbished)

BS = bullspit

 

then the question is how we know that our notebook is brand new and not refurbished?

 

Hi zenit,

Thanks for you information.

I'd better thinking twice to buy t400 or any laptops from eBay.

~kirclerc

 

Just get it at the lenovo outlet unless you're out of country, if you are then check the sellers history.

 

I think buying off of EBAY is the same as buying anywhere sans Lenovo. I bought a T61p, advertised as new, and it was new. There may be dishonest dealers on ebay and you have to filter them out. The idea of "having to" open a box to put memory in a system is just plain stupid.
-Renee

 

CTO - Laptop that has been ordered with custom config from Lenovo
CTR - Refurbished CTO machine

reference directly from Lenovo:

http://forums.lenovo.com/lnv/board/..._General&message.id=3669&query.id=24309#M3669

 

thats the worst part - if lenovo doesnt update the computer's designation in their system (which happens often) and the shady seller removes the refurbished sticker, then you will never know.

Like i said - it is best to buy from a regular ebay who is selling a used laptop used by them for a while.

If you want to read more fun stories ebay thinkpads on ebay - there is plenty of interesting stuff if you run a search on thinkpads.com forums.

 

I did it once, and I wouldn't do it again. This seller had a 99,5% positive feedback, so I guessed, it's trustworthy. More than 400 positive, 1 negative, and 1 neutral rating for last year.
After I received my X200s, box looked fine, but when I opened it, I was surprised, there wasn't original seal (orange color) on the bag. Just yellow one, with some warning blah, blah.. After I checked, this notebook on lenovo.com by product number, it wasn't correct. You can find my question I asked here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=384959

So I checked the box again, and I found out, that box was previously open - on the bottom of the box, and another tape was on the top of the original one.
So I wrote the seller, and tell him, I want to return it back. He assured me, that the system was originally factory configured by lenovo (of course). But accepted the return.
You can see the picture of the seal, and how the tape looked like here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/karvav/X200s#

 

:\ do u remember the ebay userid?

i'm actually considering buying from ebay given that it's so difficult to order directly from lenovo...

 

I don't know, if I can post it here...
Is there a way, hot to send this info only to you?

 

why difficult? It was a week for me between order and receiving my computer. Very quick.

 

you can PM me just click on my userid.

 

I've tried, but I don't have privilegies for this. :/

 

i think it's because you're a newbie - only 5 posts

try posting more and see how heh...

 

nah... write me on munchkin at seznam dot cz

 

Bumping this post a little bit with my own personal experiences.

I've purchased two Thinkpads on Ebay... a T21 back in '04, and a T40 in '07. The T21 was from a reseller, and the T40 was from a private party.

The T21 is sitting two feet away from me, happily chugging away. I have never had a problem with it that I haven't been to blame for... I don't see why it won't still be around a few years from now, although it'll definitely achieve antique status.

The T40 lasted less than five months due to the typical ATI video card issues with these models. It was also advertised with 512MB RAM; it came with 256MB. Seller wasn't too communicative and I just decided to eat it. Various parts lived on after I got a few T4x parts machines a few months ago, but my pet project one went belly-up a few days ago. Now I'm on the hunt for a T60.

So, what I'm getting to is that one can have bad Ebay experiences from anyone... private party or large reseller. Do your research and don't be impatient. I'd say that the Lenovo outlet would be the better deal for most, but since you can't readily find T60s(only T61s) there, I'm probably going to buy either off Ebay or a forum.

 

Would you want to consider buying from me? I'm using T60 now hee... waiting to order x200s in the next few days or so... (july 4 sales or something).

 

I have bought two notebook on ebay in completely new condition. One, a Dell business machine did not have warranty, but in 2 years has not missed a beat. My new W500 came with one year warranty from a week or so before my purchase, now upgraded to on-site - I saved a third the cost of a self-ordered machine and it is fantastic. I checked with both computer makers where the notebooks came from, and that they were new. The Dell was bought first in Singapore, the Lenovo in the USA.